Small Data Book: Essential Insights for Business Growth

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[00:00:13] Today we are going to unlock, Martin Lindstrom's Small Data, the tiny clues that uncover huge

[00:00:18] trends.

[00:00:20] This book discusses how effective small data mining can be used in understanding customers'

[00:00:25] emotions and motivations.

[00:00:27] Alfred Hitchcock's movies always manage to keep the audience on the edge of their seats

[00:00:32] through series of climatic sequences.

[00:00:35] The British director is known for his ability in creating stories filled with suspense, thanks

[00:00:40] to his ability to control the feelings that we, as humans, all share.

[00:00:45] Hitchcock has a methodology that favors the effective development of his work, he simultaneously

[00:00:50] uses two separate scripts when making his films.

[00:00:54] The blue script is dedicated to documenting the functional aspects of the shooting process,

[00:00:58] for instance, the scenarios, camera angels and dialogues.

[00:01:03] The second script, called the green script, in addition to outlining the main storyline

[00:01:08] and plot of the film, describes the character's emotions and complex psyches with meticulous

[00:01:13] attention to detail.

[00:01:15] Moreover, Hitchcock's green script focuses not only on the emotional state of his characters,

[00:01:20] but also on how the audience would feel and react to them.

[00:01:24] In this way, Hitchcock can control the pace of the film and, at the same time, have an

[00:01:29] accurate understanding of the emotions experienced by viewers.

[00:01:34] Hitchcock's blue and green script strategy is also applicable to brand marketing.

[00:01:39] As a matter of fact, many renowned global brands are experts at analyzing the psyche

[00:01:43] of their customers.

[00:01:45] For instance, Apple stores are projected to resemble the structure of a modern art museum.

[00:01:51] The interior is spacious, display tables are simple, and the products are evenly organized

[00:01:56] on top of them.

[00:01:58] The purpose of Apple's interior design is to assure that customers focus their attention

[00:02:02] on the product.

[00:02:04] Considering from an emotional perspective, the goal of this layout is to unlock a

[00:02:08] subconscious association of Apple products with artwork, thus further highlighting their

[00:02:13] value.

[00:02:14] This book reveals a myriad of brand stories and the emotional logic behind them.

[00:02:19] Next, let's go over the main contents of the book in the following three sections.

[00:02:25] Part 1.

[00:02:26] The Revolution of Brand Marketing.

[00:02:28] Part 2.

[00:02:29] How to Mind Small Data.

[00:02:31] Part 3.

[00:02:33] Opportunities in the Unfulfilled.

[00:02:35] Part 1.

[00:02:36] The Revolution of Brand Marketing.

[00:02:38] In today's information era, every action of a user may leave traces on countless

[00:02:43] internet websites.

[00:02:45] Data from 2020 shows that every minute, around 147,000 pictures were uploaded on Facebook,

[00:02:52] 500 hours of videos were added on YouTube, 347,222 stories were posted on Instagram,

[00:03:00] and more than 41.6 million pieces of information, including texts, voice messages and pictures

[00:03:06] were sent through WhatsApp.

[00:03:08] Furthermore, the amount of money that was spent in this minute reached around

[00:03:12] US$1 million.

[00:03:13] However, these numbers are just the tip of the iceberg and represent only a small fraction

[00:03:19] of the amount of information that is exchanged online.

[00:03:23] This amount increases every second, and the number of internet users joining the process

[00:03:28] of information production grows incessantly.

[00:03:31] Different products and services move to online platforms every day, creating a flow

[00:03:36] worth paying attention to.

[00:03:38] The information explosion and the multitude of online platforms available have fragmented

[00:03:43] our attention.

[00:03:44] Thus, the main goal of marketing professional in recent years has been to win over the attention

[00:03:50] of internet users by relying on statistics and results obtained through the examination

[00:03:54] of big data.

[00:03:56] However, even if they do succeed in attracting users' attention, the effectiveness of

[00:04:01] such marketing strategies cannot be fully guaranteed.

[00:04:05] For instance, Pecoen, a well-known Chinese cosmetics brand, once launched a phenomenal

[00:04:10] campaign by employing advertisements in the form of long pictures on social media, which

[00:04:15] attracted positive attention.

[00:04:17] Although people did appreciate this form of advertising, the marketing results obtained

[00:04:21] after the campaign were not satisfactory.

[00:04:25] Even if a marketing campaign becomes widely popular online, if it fails to effectively

[00:04:30] promote operational growth, it can only be regarded as unsuccessful.

[00:04:35] Despite the fact that Google's search engine can record the input methods of every user and

[00:04:40] analyze the related information, the company has officially stated that they are unable

[00:04:44] to understand what users are really thinking.

[00:04:48] Google handles big data on a global scale and applies top-notch technology to do so.

[00:04:54] For example, Google's software can determine a user's credit rating with an accuracy

[00:04:58] rate as high as 79% based on the frequency of capital letters used when typing.

[00:05:04] However, the company believes that the amount of user information it has available is extremely

[00:05:09] limited as big data analytics can only help decoding people's behavior patterns, not

[00:05:15] their real intentions.

[00:05:16] Additionally, online and offline personalities tend to differ, making big data analysis even

[00:05:22] more challenging.

[00:05:24] Then, what kind of marketing strategy is more effective than the use of big data?

[00:05:29] An analysis of Lego's two strategic transformations can serve as a basis to answer this

[00:05:34] question.

[00:05:36] Lego is a Danish toy manufacturer founded in 1932.

[00:05:41] Its worldwide popularity is based on the company's main product, toy blocks that are used to stimulate

[00:05:46] children's creativity.

[00:05:48] Lego's first brand revolution happened around 1981, when video games have become a new

[00:05:54] trend with the launch of the world's first handheld game.

[00:05:57] In every research conducted by Lego using big data, results showed that the instant

[00:06:02] gratification created by video games were correlated to the losses in Lego's market share.

[00:06:08] Children growing up with these games no longer had the patience and time to play with old-fashioned

[00:06:12] toy blocks.

[00:06:14] Evidently, Lego's sales declined considerably during those years.

[00:06:19] To survive and keep growing as a brand, Lego initiated a comprehensive transformation.

[00:06:25] The company stopped considering toy blocks only as its main product and began investing

[00:06:29] in other commodities, video games, children's clothing, books, magazines.

[00:06:35] Going even further, they built theme parks and retail malls and developed TV shows.

[00:06:40] Nonetheless, none of these fields could even come close to replacing Lego blocks as the

[00:06:45] company's core product.

[00:06:48] Lego needed a copious amount of investment to fund all these changes.

[00:06:52] At the beginning of 2003, their sales began to decline sharply and went down 30% when

[00:06:58] compared to previous years.

[00:07:01] In 2004, sales dropped by another 10%.

[00:07:04] Lego had now entered a phase that could mean its downfall.

[00:07:08] At the time, Lego invited Lindstrom, the author behind the book we now discuss, to become

[00:07:13] its brand strategy consultant.

[00:07:16] He helped Lego's team conduct an in-death interview with some of their young users.

[00:07:21] Among them, there was an 11-year-old German boy.

[00:07:25] When asked about the thing he valued most, his answer was an old pair of sneakers that

[00:07:29] he often used to go skateboarding.

[00:07:32] The importance of the pair of shoes laid in each trace of where that proved to his friends

[00:07:36] that he was the greatest skateboarder in town.

[00:07:39] It was immediately clear that, although children may enjoy a feeling of instant

[00:07:43] gratification, they were still willing to devote long periods of time to master

[00:07:47] a certain skill so that they can gain the respect and support of their peers.

[00:07:52] Therefore, since learning how to build with Lego's also demands time, it was likely that

[00:07:57] the company would not completely lose its market share.

[00:08:00] It turned out that the previous research based on the use of big data had pointed out a wrong

[00:08:05] direction to Lego's executives.

[00:08:08] Consequently, Lego transformed itself one more time.

[00:08:13] Building blocks became again its core product and all those businesses that could not

[00:08:16] serve Lego's purposes were abolished.

[00:08:20] After 10 years of hard work, Lego's sales increased by 11% in the first half of 2014,

[00:08:27] exceeding US$2 billion.

[00:08:29] Lego also managed to defeat its main rival Mattel for the first time, becoming the largest

[00:08:34] toy manufacturer in the world.

[00:08:37] In this story, what had given Lego a new direction was a pair of old sneakers of

[00:08:41] a German 11-year-old boy.

[00:08:44] Lindstrom categorized it as small data.

[00:08:47] What is small data?

[00:08:49] In our daily communication, 90% of our information is conveyed through nonverbal signs.

[00:08:55] These include gestures, facial expressions, speech patterns and other elements.

[00:09:01] Likewise, on the Internet, for example, each user's personal status and tweets can reflect

[00:09:06] their personal emotions and opinions.

[00:09:10] Even the combination of log and passwords can reflect a person's traits and habits.

[00:09:15] All these hidden clues in people's everyday life are what Lindstrom defines as small data.

[00:09:20] For brand marketers in the 21st century, identifying the consumer's mentality, hidden emotions, deep-seated

[00:09:27] motivations and desires is crucial to seize business opportunities.

[00:09:32] Truly succeeding in understanding consumers requires in-depth and meticulous observations

[00:09:37] that can trigger keen insights.

[00:09:40] This is precisely the key to Lindstrom's consistently successful brand marketing planning and

[00:09:45] it sums up his research method centered around the concept of small data.

[00:09:49] There is a popular saying that goes, if you want to understand how animals live, you don't

[00:09:54] go to the zoo, you go to the jungle.

[00:09:57] Understanding consumers follows quite the same logic, we need to observe and experience

[00:10:02] lives without any sort of preconceived notions.

[00:10:06] Such in-death study will yield far better results than any group-based research.

[00:10:11] Hence, Lindstrom deems it necessary to collect small data that can reflect the consumer's true

[00:10:16] feelings from an observer's perspective even before making any marketing plans.

[00:10:21] He calls this subtext research.

[00:10:24] This kind of research refers to the process of decoding the consumer's innermost desires

[00:10:29] and motivations beyond surface level as it is in one's undiscovered or unsatisfied

[00:10:34] desires that we find major business opportunities.

[00:10:38] This is what brand marketers need to look for and it is what Lindstrom considers the principle

[00:10:42] behind the foundation of new brand development, product innovation and enterprise development.

[00:10:48] This concludes the first part.

[00:10:51] We have discussed the information explosion and the multitude of channels available that,

[00:10:56] in turn, resulted in inaccurate analyses produced by big data.

[00:11:00] Alternatively, small data can give us a precise picture of the consumer's real needs.

[00:11:06] Today we are just sharing limited content.

[00:11:09] To unlock more key insights of world-class bestseller please download our app.

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